Per the announcement, the new derivative is an option on the value of a trading account. The trader reportedly pays a premium upfront to buy the option, and the trading account starts with a value of zero. The holder is permitted to do 10 trades per day in the BTC/USD market until maturity.

When the option matures, if the value of the account is positive, the holder receives that value: if it is negative, he or she does not pay anything. The announcement explains:

“This is analogous to an insurance policy on the trading account where the holder enjoys all the profits of the strategy at maturity, but should there be losses then no further cashflow takes place.”

As Cointelegraph reported in mid-April, Arthur Hayes, co-founder and CEO of major crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX, has revealed that the firm is hoping to open a cryptocurrency options platform in the medium term.